Women’s university physical education class in cooperation with private fitness clubs

<p>New physical education class combining lectures and exercise practice was started in cooperation with private fitness clubs. In this report, we discuss the characteristics of students who attended the class and changes in the physical strength before and after the class. The class consisted of guidance, physical fitness measurements before and after the class, lectures on exercise (2 times), and practical training at the fitness club (10 times). University faculty members carried out lectures, physical fitness measurement etc., and instructors of fitness clubs carried out practical training of physical exercise. The capacity of the class was set to 30 students. Students needed to pay out-of-pocket expense of 10,000 yen as the facility usage fee. In the first year, 23 students took the class. For the grades of the students, about half of them was the first graders, and accounted for 47.8%. On the other hand, the third graders and the fourth grader accounted for 17.4% and 26.1%, respectively; and the ratio of these upper graders was higher as compared with other practical subjects. For changes in the physical form and strength before and after the class, significant decrease in the body weight (p = 0.002), BMI (p = 0.002) and body fat percentage (p = 0.000) and significant improvement in anteflexion in standing (p = 0.028) and standing with eyes closed (p = 0.005) were observed. In the questionnaire on the class performed after the completion of class, there were many positive opinions to the class. Changes in the physical form and strength before and after the class were observed by introducing class in cooperation with private fitness clubs. In addition, there were many positive opinions to the class. In universities that do not have dedicated exercise facilities, it may be possible to provide more attractive physical education classes in cooperation with local resources in the future.</p>